Page 56 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

A faint pop echoes through me with a flash of fire as my power crests.

My eyes fly open. The pub stands before me, several unknown orcs staring from the window with wide eyes.

I get one glimpse of white in my peripheral vision—Zephyr came with me!

Then black rushes in from every side as the world tips sideways and goes dark.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Wranth

Naomi and Zephyr pop out of existence, and I have a split second before a giant invisible hand picks me up and hurls me across the world.

I land directly behind my bride, springing forward as her knees give out.

“Naomi!” I dive, plowing into the ground with outstretched arms to catch her. Agony flares through my elbows, but the pain doesn’t matter as long as I keep her safe.

I pull her limp form close and roll up to sitting with her on my lap. Why did I let my moon bound do this? Why? Why? Why? We could have ridden instead. Sure, it would have taken a week, and who knows what foe might have found us along the way, but it wouldn’t be this—it wouldn’t be her so unnaturally still in my arms.

Finding my parents no longer matters. Visiting Avalon no longer matters. Nothing matters except my bride, happy and healthy in my arms.

Rage fills me, all directed inward. I had misgivings—why didn’t I heed them? She’d be fine if I had. How could I be so foolish? How could I let her risk herself?

Zephyr’s head comes over my shoulder. When she presses her horn to Naomi’s upper arm, it doesn’t glow. “Well, that’s good,” my friend says. “If I can’t heal her, it means she’s not at death’s door.”

“It doesn’t mean she’s all right, though,” I grit out.

“Help!” Zephyr raises her head and bellows. “We need help over here.”

Light footsteps patter across the ground.

“Mist warned us you were coming.” Selena drops down beside me and flicks her long brown ponytail back over her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”

She’s almost as tall as Naomi, but not as lushly curved. Her orc tunic, leather pants, and boots make her look at home in the village. Normally smiling, her tan face now wears the solemn expression she adopts whenever acting as a healer. Since she’s married to Sturrm, my friend, who used to be in the king’s guard with me, I know her the best of all the human witches and have always liked her.

“Please help Naomi,” I say. “I think she used too much magic.”

Selena nods and reaches for Naomi, moving aside the shirt collar to press her fingers to my bride’s neck. The healer’s expression goes distant, as if she listens to music only she can hear.

She’s quiet for several seconds, but those seconds feel like years, and I have to fight down the rage that boils through me and wants to lash out, demanding answers.

“Ay! I agree it’s magical burnout,” she finally says. Magic tingles through the air as she presses her hand more firmly to Naomi. “I can take care of some of the side effects, but she’s going to need to rest.”

“What about the red crystals?” I ask. “Won’t they help?”

“They should.” She jumps to her feet. “I’ll get a few from Gerna’s.” She hurries across the village green to the heart tree cottage that holds the herbalist’s apothecary. Now that Selena lives in the village, it’s been turned into a full medical center that they share.

Sturrm crouches in her place. Seven feet tall and built of solid muscle, my friend is about a decade older than me, though the only way you’d know it is by the tiny streaks of silver in his otherwise black hair. “How are you, my friend?”

“Worried,” I growl and meet his eyes.

“There’s no better healer in all of Alarria than my bride,” he says, his voice full of pride. It’s still strange to see him like this. I used to think he was the only orc grumpier than me, but all of that’s changed since the Moon Goddess brought him Selena.

“I know she’s an excellent healer.” And yet… Selena used her magic on Naomi, and Naomi’s still not awake. What does that mean?

My arms tighten around her, and I brush the curls off her face, ignoring the twinge of my elbow.

When Selena returns, she lays two of the red crystals on Naomi’s skin, right above her collarbones. The crystals are a recent find, brought back from the dragon lands by Selena and Sturrm. The human witches can channel magics greater than their bodies can stand. These crystals help soothe that burden.

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